God’s Calendar

God’s Calendar

Search the Scriptures; for in Them ye Think ye have Eternal Life: and They are They which Testify of ME

(John 5:39)

For by Him were all things created, that are in Heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,

whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him, and for Him:

And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.   Colossians 1: 16 & 17

God’s Calendar . . . Caleb 

Part 1 – Introduction: Season’s in Genesis 1: 14

In the faith community little attention is given to the beginning chapters of Genesis in God’s Word. Most of our time is spent in what we today call the New Testament. Yet God Himself prescribed to Moses what was to be included in the first five books of the Bible, referred to as the Torah in Hebrew, not leaving the account of creation for us to guess at or to choose from various myths or spurious stories. As you can see from the title of this article we are asking you to consider basically one word . . . seasons . . . as used in Genesis 1:14 for our study. I will state to you right from the start that this word does not literally mean spring, summer, fall, or winter. There are other Hebrew words used for that usage of season. More on this later.

 Our premise is: that the evidence in Scripture will verify that in Genesis 1:14-19 the Biblical calendar is established or synchronized . . . AND especially in verse 14 we will discover that God established “appointed times” or feasts, the timing thereof being determined by the sun, the moon, & the stars (a system not in the control of sinful human beings) . . . AND these “appointed times”, moedim in Hebrew, were established before the fall and had no redemptive value until after the onset of sin.

Let us now dive right into our study!

This study into God’s Word will focus upon Genesis chapter 1 verses 14-19. The “issue” we want to bring to your attention is as follows . . . “Did God set into motion (synchronize) the sun, moon, & stars providing a “calendar” to determine time AND are the Sacred Seasons of Leviticus 23 (the Moedim – the Sabbath to the Feast of Tabernacles) to be directly associated with these passages?” To be certain of the context surrounding these verses let us first consider all of Genesis chapter one and chapter two verses on throught three as well. Our goal will be to have a balanced and true understanding of the issures contained therein. Please consider the following points:

• • • God “alone” created our world by “HImself“! I don’t know about you, but when I claim to have accomplished something “by myself” that means that neither my friend, my hired hand, nor an angel has helped me.

Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens Alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by Myself;  Isaiah 44:24

• • • God is all -powerful. He “spoke” His creation into existence. 

For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.  Psalms 33:9

• • • God’s Word testifies that this was none other than Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer, who “spoke” and “created” all.

For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him:  Colossians 1:16

All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.  John 1:3

• • • The days of creation were natural “24 hour days,” not long periods of time.

And the evening and the morning were the (first, second, third, etc.) day.   Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31

• • • Sin, rebellion to God, was not introduced until “after creation week” when Adam & Eve chose to believe Satan and not God. Yes, Adam was not deceived, but still chose to participate in the path of disobedience.

And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.  1Timothy 2:14

• • • God’s creation was “all good,” untainted by sin.

. . . and God saw that it was good.   Genesis 1:4,12,18,21,25,31.

Part 2 – Creation Week

When Eve disobeyed God’s directions and ate “of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden Gen 3:3,” this act set into motion God’s Plan of Redemption. How do we reconcile the statement from God that if they ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil they would die? The only answer comes from scripture: “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: Romans 5:20“ The very instant sin reared itself, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world Rev 13:8“ was available to Adam, Even, and all their descendants. We have noted that a majority within Christianity hold to a “dispensational” view of living under “God’s Grace,” (Click on this Link to read an entire article dealing with the Problems with Dispensationalism by William Kilgore) It has always been “His Saving Grace” which rescues us from our own sinfullness. This Plan of Redemption resting upon the foundation of “His Grace” is to continue until when as the book of Revelation declares:

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.   Revelation 22: 11

“After sin” all of God’s creation is affected . . . even to this day. Look what happened!

And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

(Gen 1:31)

Yes, Genesis chapter one records that God established the order of our world in six literal days, each day has an evening and a morning. Please notice that the evening precedes the morning. And then as if to put the icing on the cake He adds the following:

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 

And on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. 

So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation.

(Gen 2:1-3)

We learn from the opening chapters of Genesis exactly where our world’s weekly cycle came from ! Every seventh day God has declared to be holy and He Himself models the rest He expects His people to enjoy. Notice the following verses as well.

• • • And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. (Mark 2:27-28)   [Mark”s gospel tells us that God made the Sabbath for man . . . that’s us !] 
    • For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works . . . There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.    (Hebrews 4:4&9)   [Hebrews teaches us that the Sabbath rest is symbolic of our redemptive rest in God !]
    • Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. . .  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.    (Exodus 20:8-11)    [Exodus reminds us of a day to remember Who our Creator is !]

​Has God removed His Blessing, Holiness, and Rest from the Seventh day? Think not that I have come to destroy the law and the prophets (Matthew 5: 17) . . . I think not!

​

Summary of Part 2 – Creation Week

To review what we learned in this section:

• • • God created life on our planet in six literal 24 hour days alone, by Himself.
    • God rested on the 7th day, not one of the other six days, but specifically on the 7th day.
    • God declares the 7th day to be holy.
    • God established the weekly cycle for our world.
    • All that He created was good.
    • Looking forward from creation week we find that all of creation is affected by sin.

 We are now ready to take a closer look at verse 14 in Genesis chapter 1.

Part 3 – The Fourth Day of Creation Up Close

(14)  And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: [Psalms 104:19  He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. ]

(15)  And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

(16)  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

(17)  And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

(18)  And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

(19)  And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.   (Genesis 1)

The scripture quoted above gives us details concerning the fourth day of creation. In these verses we can learn much about the purpose of the heavenly bodies. These verses tell us that the sun (the greater light), the moon (the lesser light), and the stars accomplish the following: 

• • 1. These lights (sun, moon, & stars) divide the day from the night. (v 14)
    2. These lights (sun, moon, & stars) give light to earth. (v 15)
    3. The sun (greater light) rules the day. (v 16)
    4. The moon (lesser light) rules the night, with the stars. (v 16)
    5. These lights (sun, moon, & stars) are for:

a.  signs – a signal, a mark, a token, or a monument.

– sign of Second Coming of Jesus – (Matthew 24:29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:)

b.  seasons – a set time, an appointed time (not summer, winter, spring, or fall season) [see definition below]

c.  days – specific day or days.

d.  years – the length of time it takes earth to revolve once around the sun.

There are six Hebrew words rendered seasons in the KJV bible. All six are listed below. 

• • 1. season (moed H4150)
  • 2. season (yom H3117);  
    3. season (malach H4414);  
    4. season (eth H6256);  
    5. season (layil  /  lêyl  /  layelâh     H3915);  
    6. season (zeman H2165);   

Please consider the word seasons (Hebrew – Moedim) in Genesis 1:14

Other versions.

• • • Then God commanded, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate day from night and to show the time when days, years, and religious festivals begin; GNB
    • Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs and will mark religious festivals, days, and years.  GW
    • And Elohim said, “Let lights come to be in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and appointed times, and for days and years,  The Scriptures
    • God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will mark events, sacred seasons, days, and years.  CEB
    • God said, “I command lights to appear in the sky and to separate day from night and to show the time for seasons, special days, and years.   CEV
    • Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years.  HCSB
    • Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky. These lights will separate the days from the nights. They will be used for signs to show when special meetings [a] begin and to show the days and years.  ERV     [a] Footnotes:  Genesis 1:14 special meetings The Israelites used the sun and moon to decide when the months and years began. Many Israelite festivals and special meetings began at the time of the new moon or full moon.
    • And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons,[a] and for days and years,  ESV  [a] Or appointed times.
    • Then God commanded, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate day from night and to show the time when days, years, and religious festivals begin;  GNT
    • And God said, “Let there be lights in the vaulted dome of heaven to separate day from night, and let them be as signs and for appointed times, and for days and years,  LEB
    • Then Elohim said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs and will mark religious festivals, days, and years.  NOG
  • • And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night,
       and let them serve as signs
       to mark 
      sacred times
      , and days and years,  NIV
      • God said, ‘Let there be lights in the vault of heaven to divide day from night, and let them indicate festivals, days and years.   NJB

Summary of Part 3 – verses 14-16

To review what we learned in this section:

• • • God significantly used the sun, moon, and the stars right from the creation of our world.
    • The sun, moon, and the stars give our world light.
    • The sun, moon, and the stars divide day and night.
    • God uses the sun, moon, and the stars for signs.
    • God uses the sun, moon, and the stars to determine days, years, and months also (the Hebrew word for months is moon [chodesh]).
    • God uses the sun, moon and the stars to additionally determine feast days.

Following is the link to an article by David J. Rudolph. The article lends support to the position that God provided, before sin, Appointed Times or Sacred Times without redemptive elements.

This article is from the Tyndalehouse website.    http://www.tyndalehouse.com

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